Dan Kerin

 Leica 50mm F/1.4 Summilux V1

Leica has always been renowned for their fast lenses and up until 1959 their ‘fast 50’ was the 50mm f1.5 Xenon designed by Taylor-Hobson in 1936 and later succeeded by the Summarit 50mm f1.5 in 1949. These were both screw mount lenses so with the introduction of the Leica M mount in 1954 a new fast 50 was on the horizon. Enter the Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux. This was the first lens to use the legendary Summilux prefix and lead the way for Leica’s new chapter with the M mount. Released in 1959 the version 1 Summilux only had a short 2 year production run when it was replaced by the version 2. This was mainly because while being an f1.4 it shared the same 7 lenses in 5 group, optical design as the previous screw mount Summarit which dated from 1949. While it did have a redesigned housing, featuring 16 aperture blades and a knurled focusing ring, optically this was still a pretty dated lens. Like with early version 2 Summilux’s there was a lot of variations between serial numbers. This was at a time where Leica would make small changes to the lens but keep the product code the same. This means that there can be quite the variation from lens to, lens so this is something to keep in mind. The one I am using is a early 1959 model with the scalloped focus ring and the knurled edge towards the base of the lens. Some lenses were reverse scalloped and some later lenses would have a different knurling, more similar to the version 2 (yes this is getting extremely geeky!)

In the hands the lens has a fair weight of 360g but it balances nicely on any M mount cameras, but for this review I have been using it on my Leica M3 which was the camera this lens was released for. Personally, I have always found there to be something quite special about using a period correct camera and lens pairing. Two things to mention before going any further, this lens dates from 1959 so it will not have some of the features present on more modern Leica lenses. Two of which being are its minimum focus distance is only 1 meter compared to the 0.7 meter closer focus on the version 3 Summilux. And the aperture clicks are in full stops. One nice feature is the filter diameter is 43mm. This makes getting filters fairly easy when compared to the very odd 41mm size of the 35mm Summilux version 1 which came out in 1961.

As this lens was released for the Leica M3 I found it quite fitting to review the lens using that camera. The lens will pair nicely to any M mount camera but there is something to be said about using period matching equipment (at least in my eyes anyway). Being a long time Summicron ridged user the Summilux is a little heavier but still more than usable as an everyday lens. Performance wise for a vintage lens it performs well but that is something to keep in mind. Shooting stopped down sharpness is more than enough for use on film and there is limited distortion or vignetting. Shooting wide open you will introduce some of that classic Leica glow which is common for lenses of this era. The out of focus areas melt away nicely and are not distracting and the focus falloff is nice and smooth making it great for portraits. While not being as sharp as the version 2 or newer lenses this is to be expected and was the reason for the short production life of this lens. This being said it does have a distinctive look similar to the older Summarit but more usable wide open.

I think this is a great lens and I am personally on the lookout for a near mint one to add to my personal collection. Being more of a collector’s lens at the time of writing they generally go for about 50% more than a version 2 or 3 50mm Summilux. I would say if you are after the classic design get the version 2 and if you are after a more modern feeling lens with a 0.7m focus distance go for the version 3.